Chương 1: Terminus
--data log corrupted--
--beginning data retrieval. please wait--
--partial data retrieval success--
--chaldea is dead--
===
Chaldea's alarm was blaring.
The halls were tinted red as personnel rushed through them to their stations.
"Master! Master! Wake up!" Ritsuka was roused from their deep slumber by their distressed kouhai, Mash. "It's an emergency!"
He snapped to his senses when he was finally awake and prepared himself for the worst. Quickly changing into his gear, he and Mash made their way to the control room. "What's happening?!"
"We're not sure. Something unusual came up on one of Da Vinci's background scans. But then… it reacted."
Whatever it was, Da Vinci had apparently deemed it as a top-priority threat that was now on a direct course with Chaldea. Before they could reach the control room, however-
CRAAAASH!
"Get down!" Ritsuka grabbed Mash and threw himself to the ground with her in tow as the corridor up ahead suddenly collapsed in on itself.
Chaldea staff that had luckily just been short of it stopped in their tracks as they fanned dust from their faces. The standard lights of the hallways had gone out, dying the corridor a deep red as black trickles seemed to seep out from the rubble. The fluid travelled across the floor unnaturally, splitting and spreading out like strange tree branches.
"What... what is that?!" A bewildered staff member backed himself away from the crawling ooze, but another was too shaken by the collapsed ceiling to move.
The fluid latched onto her foot before it quickly shot up her body and spread over her in a griddled mesh. "I-it's cold… I-I can't move!" Screams suddenly escaped her lungs as the fluid dug deep into her flesh, before completely encasing her in its sheenless dark hue.
Mash and Ritsuka stood themselves up as they witnessed this happen before them. The other Chaldea personnel had already started to back away some more.
"It's not safe, Fujimaru-san! We need to ru-" The liquid shot out with predatory precision, as it latched onto the next staff member and enveloped them. "GYAAAAH! RUUUN!"
"Senpai! This way!" Tugging Ritsuka in the other direction, Mash followed the lead of remaining staff as they started to succumb to the oncoming fluid, one by one.
Some of those that had been afflicted then started to shift… a sound painfully similar to that of bones cracking and splintering was heard as the once-human shapes contorted about. They then started moving. Vaguely resembling the humanoids they once were, the jet-black creatures started to give chase with erratic movements.
"Those things… they move like the Lahmu. What are they?!" Remarked one of the remaining staff as he sprinted to no avail before being taken out by one of those things.
One by one, the staff were being picked off. Stabbed through their bodies by jet tendrils, yet no blood was shed. Instead, the obsidian hue infectiously took over their forms, birthing more of the creatures.
Soon enough, only Mash and Ritsuka were left. They sprinted for their lives, for Mash was currently powerless without her capabilities as Shielder. The best she could do protect her beloved senpai was to- "Keep running! We've almost reached the cafeteria. I know the manual override for the doors, so we can set up a blockade in there."
"Those others were taken down so quickly… I hope Da Vinci is alright." Ritsuka's expression darkened a bit as he glanced back at the creatures chasing them.
"... I hope so too." Even though both of them believed "Oh, it's Da Vinci, she would be fine", the warning she issued out earlier...
===
"Chaldea is on full alert! This is not a drill, not that a genius like me would ever need to have drills of this kind! A top-priority threat has been detected on our background scanners. Moment of impact is imminent. I repeat, Chaldea, this is not a drill. We require all hands available immediately-"
===
Da Vinci's words echoed in Ritsuka's mind as they made it into the cafeteria. A group of other staff had made it here too, it seems.
"You two! In here, now! Mannsbridge, ready the override!" A female engineer signalled in as Mash and Ritsuka bolted through the doorway. The man at the door's terminal swiftly performed the override as the doors hissed shut. Loud bangs crashed against the door, causing them to back away in caution.
Mash turned to the engineer as she glanced about the room… there were six others in total, all engineers of Chaldea. "Has… anyone else made it?"
"We're the only ones that got here in time. I'm sorry, Miss Kyrielight. We couldn't take chances and sealed the rest of the doors. The only reason we didn't seal that one already was sheer luck… no way we were going to leave you guys out like that when we could see you running with all your might." The engineer adjusted her glasses, looking rather shaken but trying to keep it together.
"... I understand. It's not your fault."
"Trust me… I'd be saving anyone I could if those things weren't knocking so harshly right now." Her name was Gosheim, one of the seniors of Chaldea's engineering division. She and her team were common sights in the power plant sectors.
"We take on repair jobs to pass the time between maintenance checks and calibrations. We were fortunate that the espresso machine broke down here…"
"I can only hope for the best, for everyone else… perhaps Da Vinci will have a plan. Is there any way to reach the control room?" Ritsuka remarked as he glanced about the room while thinking about solutions.
"Communications aren't working at the moment. The base is currently working off of auxiliary reserves, meaning that the main power has been cut."
Whatever had stricken Chaldea, it had struck hard and fast. In mere moments, the organization that had saved the Human Order from incineration had been cornered.
"Our only hope right now is to issue out an emergency distress signal from an improvised device, which my team is currently working on with what we have at our disposal."
"Is there anything we can help with? Anything at all… we need to do something." Ritsuka desperately wanted to do something, as Chaldea's remaining master.
"For now… blockade the doors. While I have faith in the defensive properties of Chaldea's door systems, in this case-... I think it'd just help reinforce our hopes. Maybe." Gosheim signalled for the other remaining staff to make preparations.
Mash and Ritsuka nodded to each other as the two started to shift around furniture in the cafeteria, pushing and piling stuff to reinforce the doors in ramshackle fashion.
"Senpai… things don't look good" Mash remarked as she grabbed one end of a table.
"Don't worry, Mash. We've figured situations like this out before. We can surely do it again… surely." But his words were shaky. Mash could only nod in response as they shifted the table together. Ritsuka wanted to believe that they would come out of this alright…
Yet the shadows of doubt gripped his resolve. This was not like those other cases. In this case, they had plunged the blade directly into the heart. Chaldea was slowly bleeding out.
"Success! We have a transmission module set up!" One of the engineers announced the result of their work, right as Mash and Ritsuka ran out of things to pile up at the doors. They and the engineers crowded around the modified cafeteria terminal that was to function as their lifeline.
"Who do we reach out to? I think the closest place would be the administrations in the Oceanic region."
"No no, we need to contact the Clock Tower! Only they have the means to bail us out here."
"But will they do that? They see us as villains after all!"
Bickering ensued amidst the engineers, but Gosheim clapped her hands to silence them for a moment.
"This is the worst time to argue about this. We're sending out a distress signal, without any target. Beggars can't be choosers. Rather… we have to hope that anyone at all sees this."
The remoteness of their region and their reputation meant that the odds of this plan even succeeding were low. Upon realizing this, the morale of those in the room plummeted.
"... We're doomed" muttered one of the engineers in despair.
"But we have to try, right? Send out the signal. Direct all power reserves here towards it, expand the reach as much as we can." Gosheim was about to allow anyone to succumb to the absence of hope just yet. Without further complaints, the engineer at the terminal activated the beacon. Their distress was now being communicated to the world and beyond… "Now we wait for one of two things… an answer, or the end"
Seconds of trepidation went by, as alarms continued to blare amidst otherworldly growls and roars from outside the room. Those seconds felt like tremendous spans of time that tested their will to continue hoping. No one uttered a word, perhaps saving their breath for that moment that they yearned for in this desperate time…
Beep.
"... no way. No way! Someone has responded!" The engineer operating the console sprung up, his hopes kindled. After only a few minutes, their makeshift relay had succeeded.
There were small cheers from the team but Gosheim remained cautious. "Do we have data on who it is?"
The other engineer than grimaced, however. "... Wait a minute. There isn't anything here. Or rather, the terminal can't display it."
"... What?" Gosheim moved over to investigate herself, with Mash peeking over her shoulder. What they saw… "These symbols… mean nothing to me. Yes, indeed, someone has picked us up. But they're trying to transmit to us with some strange codec."
Ritsuka looked for himself, but the strange symbols and lines of code on the screen meant little to him. "Uh… are we able to receive it then?"
"I have no idea. I run calibrations on generators, I'm not a comms tech-"
CRAAAAASH!
The lot of them ducked behind the cafeteria counter as one of the blockaded doorways suddenly exploded, flames spreading into the room. Ritsuka peered over the counter's top and saw something dreadful…
A human figure, clad in black like the creatures. However, they were not deformed. In fact, it looked more like a man in a suit, with illuminated lines spread across the blackness.
A face-concealing mask of advanced technology hid their features, only a long ponytail of hair extending from the back of their head indicating that they may be some manner of human being.
"Found you, Master of Chaldea."
The mask clearly distorted his voice as he walked into the room, passing through flames as if they were nothing. There was a killing intent in the air. It was thick, enough to crush the spirit of the weak. It wasn't like that of anyone Ritsuka had encountered before. He felt his very soul being crushed by that intent.
The creatures dashed and leapt throughout the room, a hoard of them emerging from behind the masked man. They immediately crashed behind the counter, causing some of the engineers to attempt fleeing.
Two of them tried to jump over the counter, but they were hunted as soon as they touched down on the other side. Their spirit and mind broken, the man at the terminal screamed and ran straight at one of the creatures with a screwdriver in hand. His screams were cut painfully short as his body was punctured like a pincushion.
"Senpai… I'll protect you until the end, no matter what. That is what I pledge my life to…" Yet Mash did not possess that power anymore. All she could do was use every fiber of her body, mind and spirit as is to defend her master till the bitter end.
As a creature prepared to swipe at Mash, it recoiled back as a Gandr bolt punched into its torso. Gosheim retracted her finger as she stood up. "I was always average at Magecraft, so I took up engineering instead… average magi can never make it in that ruthless world, but they can be extraordinary in the real world. However... that doesn't matter in a situation like this. I will use everything at my disposal to preserve the remaining Master of Chaldea, even if I hate it." She pointed towards the doorway that led to the cafeteria storage room. "Mannsbridge! Release the override on that door, take them to the freezer. That's the last bunker we can fall back on. I'll make sure you can make it there."
Mannsfield reluctantly nodded. "... Understood, I'll see to it. I never took you one for heroics, ma'am."
"I'm not. I'm just doing my job."
There was a creature barring their path, but it shifted the moment Gosheim fired a Gandr bolt at it. As another creature tried to flank her, she whipped out a handgun and shot it in the shoulder, giving it pause.
"Go, Master of Chaldea! Fujimaru!"
"Y-yes! Thank you, Miss Gosheim!" Ritsuka, along with Mash and Mannsbridge, bolted towards the freezer. The creature in their way was barraged with gunfire and Gandr bolts, distracting it enough that they managed to bypass it.
Proven to be skilled in the timing of overriding door mechanisms, Mannsbridge opened the freezer in no more than a count of three. Ritsuka piled in first, Mash following closely after before she turned to Mannsbridge. He shook his head, however. "... Ever since the Freezer Lock-in Incident, we removed the capability to lock the freezer from inside. Someone's gotta secure you guys, right? This is my job too."
With those as parting words, Mannsbridge sealed the door again. All that was heard beyond the door was the sound of a sharp object banging against the door.
"M-Mannsbridge..." Ritsuka's hands thumped softly against the freezer door.
"... It's just us now, senpai." Mash huddled her arms around herself due to the drop in temperature.
"Yeah. We…"
What do we do now? It was the only thought on Ritsuka's mind…
==
"... I'm just a senior engineer. To think my end would be something like this." The middle-aged woman smiled to herself as she fired with her gun again… except it clicked uselessly. Her magazine had run dry. "I suppose that's what I signed up for in the first place, though." She lowered her gun. Her neglected Magic Circuits were burning too. She closed her eyes. "I could use a coffee..."
Thus, she was relieved of all burdens as her head was separated from her shoulders by a gleaming streak of scarlet. Her blood painted the floor as the masked man stood over her. "... Hmph. The prey has hid away into a hole. Excellent." He spared no second thought to the minor nuisance he just dispatched, as Gosheim's body fell to its knees.
He brandished a bright red blade, something between a sword and a shiv. A tool for killing, forged in a substance resembling crystallized blood. He flicked Gosheim's blood off of it as he turned to the freezer. "It was only a matter of time. By my blade, you shall fall." He pressed onwards. There was no urgency in his steps, hence his inaction to this point. His kill was assured, so he was free to take as much time as he pleased...
Killing was the remaining pleasure he was permitted. This meant everything to him.
===
Huddled at the rearmost wall of the freezer, Mash stood guard in front of her dear senpai. She had said her piece about this. She was determined to do all that she could.
So what was it that Ritsuka himself could do here? He wanted to protect Mash as well. However, he was the Master of Chaldea. By this point, it felt like he was the remaining lifeblood of Chaldea itself. Everyone that remained doing what they can to become his shield. "There must be something…"
As Edmond Dantes, the Count of Monte Cristo would say… wait and hope. That was all he could do right now. Yet, with each passing moment, despair became increasingly powerful.
It had fallen silent outside the doors. Mash was on guard, expecting the worst. If she could buy enough time, even if just a fraction of a second… to buy time for a miracle. That was all that they had to cling onto now.
In the next moment, the door was sliced open like butter before a hot knife. The remnants were kicked in, as the masked man walked towards them. The blade he brandished glimmered menacingly with its red hue, more notable now that it was in the cool blue light of the freezer.
It was a glimmer that… Ritsuka recognized, yet he could not fathom what it truly was. All that he knew was that it was dangerous.
Please move, Mash. Please save yourself, Mash.
His mind flooded with such thoughts as his lips creased. Yet, Mash did not back down. She stood stalwart before the masked man. "I'll not allow you to lay a finger on-"
Schwink.
Mash's eyes went wide. From behind, Ritsuka could see the crimson blade… along with a patch of red that rapidly expanded across Mash's back. "... Sen... pai…" Like a lifeless doll, her body collapsed. The last shield had fallen… the most precious shield had fallen. Tears clouded Ritsuka's vision.
"MAAAAASH!" He stood up to claim her fallen form, but he was not even permitted that privilege as the masked man threw him hard against the freezer wall. Ribs cracked as Ritsuka coughed up blood, but he didn't fall to the ground. Instead, there was a burning in his gut. "... Ah-" He had been impaled against the wall, the blade through his torso.
The masked man twisted the blade, causing Ritsuka to grunt in agony. The burning intensified so much that it made him dizzy. "How dull. There was no resistance here in Chaldea. Not even the so-called genius inventor could fight back. We expected so much more." The emotionless visor of that man bore itself into Ritsuka's mind as he felt that he locked eyes with his assailant. "It's over, Chaldea."
A dark hand grasped onto Ritsuka's face, pulling his head forward before it was thrust back and-
SPLAT-
…
…
--end of recollection sequence--
--events within designated time frame have been successfully logged--
--memory stagnation nullified--
--spiritual mainframe preservation succeeded--
--subject vital signatures confirmed to be within designated margins--
--loading...--
--commencing somatic paradigm transference in--
--3--
--2--
--1--
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực